Vintage Photograph of Pope John Paul II's 1979 Ticker-Tape Parade Through NYC

October 3, 1979: An ebullient pontiff, thrown a ticker-tape parade by overjoyed New Yorkers, was shielded from the rain by an umbrella held by Terence Cardinal Cooke, the Archbishop of New York. At a gathering at Madison Square Garden, Pope John Paul II was cheered by thousands of teenagers. “If he’d put that guitar around his neck,” said one headmaster of a Catholic high school, “the kids would have blown the roof right off the Garden.”
October 3, 1979: An ebullient pontiff, thrown a ticker-tape parade by overjoyed New Yorkers, was shielded from the rain by an umbrella held by Terence Cardinal Cooke, the Archbishop of New York. At a gathering at Madison Square Garden, Pope John Paul II was cheered by thousands of teenagers. “If he’d put that guitar around his neck,” said one headmaster of a Catholic high school, “the kids would have blown the roof right off the Garden.”
Photo: Lively Morgue
(photo back)
(photo back)
Photo: Lively Morgue

The Lively Morgue is a daily photo blog from the New York Times in which an original photo from the newspaper's archives is reposted along with tidbits of information gleaned from the historical article it accompanied. Along with a rescan of the original photograph, the backs of each photo are also scanned, giving a behind-the-scenes look at the editorial process of one of the world's best newspapers.

Today's posting features a shot from October 3rd, 1979, in which Pope John Paul II visited New York City and spoke in Madison Square Garden, but not before the City held a ticker-tape parade in his honor.

October 3, 1979: An ebullient pontiff, thrown a ticker-tape parade by overjoyed New Yorkers, was shielded from the rain by an umbrella held by Terence Cardinal Cooke, the Archbishop of New York. At a gathering at Madison Square Garden, Pope John Paul II was cheered by thousands of teenagers. “If he’d put that guitar around his neck,” said one headmaster of a Catholic high school, “the kids would have blown the roof right off the Garden.”

The original article from 1979 has more.

Matt Coneybeare

Matt Coneybeare

Editor in Chief

Matt enjoys exploring the City's with his partner and son. He is an avid marathon runner, and spends most of his time eating, running, and working on cool stuff.

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